Flowers of Performance: Workshops on Japanese Noh Traditional Theatre

Posted on by lakey

 

The Center for Asian and Pacific Studies is pleased to present four days of events on Traditional Japanese Noh Theatre, to be held at the University of Oregon, the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and the Portland Art Museum. The events, which will include performances and workshops, are to be led by TAKEDA Tomoyuki, an active performer from one of the most prestigious schools of Noh, the Kanze School. Established in the fourteenth century, Noh is characterized by austere simplicity of performance and profoundly poetic plots. In a series of four workshops (two of which will be accompanied by costumed performance), Takeda-sensei and his troupe will cover a range of topics from history, dance and chanting to costumes and masks. Audiences will have the opportunity to take part in a dance and chanting sequence, and to learn about costumes through dressing demonstrations.

All workshops are free and open to the public.* You are invited to participate in any and all of them.

*Seating is limited for the Portland workshops. Be sure to reserve your ticket today!

PORTLAND EVENTS:

Saturday, September 29: Experiential workshop on Noh dance and chanting

3:30-5:30 pm @ Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
(doors open at 3:00)

  • Tickets required (number of participant limited). Please follow this link to register for tickets. Please print out the registration and bring it with you to the event.
  • Participants will learn the basic movements of Noh and a simplified version of the Oimatsu (“Old Pine”) dance sequence.

Sunday, September 30: Introduction to Noh with a performance from the play, Hanjo (“Lady Ban”)

 6-8 pm @ Portland Art Museum, Fields Sunken Ballroom
(doors opens at 5:30)

  • Tickets required. Please follow this link to register for tickets. Please print out the registration and bring it with you to the event.
  • Introduction to Noh staging and performance, including demonstrations of chanting and costuming. The workshop will culminate in a performance of excerpts from Lady Ban (a tale of true love between a courtesan and courtier).

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EVENTS:

Monday, October 1: Haseltine Lecture on Noh costume (sponsored by the Department of the History of Art and Architecture)

  • 5-6:30 pm @ Redwood Auditorium, EMU
  • Presentation on Noh costumes, culminating in a costuming demonstration (kitsuke). We will discuss history, materials and designs of a Noh costume.

Tuesday, October 2: Introduction to Noh with performance from the plays, Hanjo (“Lady Ban”) and Sesshohseki (“Death Stone”)

 5-7 pm @ Redwood Auditorium, EMU

  • Introduction to Noh history and performance, culminating in a performance of excerpts from the plays Lady Ban—a tale of true love between a courtesan and courtier—and Death Stone, a tale of a possessed stone that ends life.

This series of workshops is made possible through generous support from the following: Takashi Takeda Memorial Nohgaku Foundation; the Asian Studies Program; the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies; the College of Arts & Sciences; the Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; the Sally Claire Haseltine Endowed Fund in Art History; the Yoko McClain Fund at the University of Oregon; a Mini Grant for Japanese Arts & Culture from the Los Angeles Office of the Japan Foundation; and the Portland Art Museum.

Videos of the Noh experience can be found at http://nohgaku-experience.com/flower.